Iowa’s McCaffery wants more from Uhl

IOWA CITY - Iowa forward Dominique Uhl has reached the sophomore slump portion of his playing career, and his minutes in the Hawkeyes' two exhibition games reflect it.

Uhl, who stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 215 pounds, was expected to challenge for a starting role this off-season. But in the last exhibition, a 76-74 loss to Division II Augustana, Uhl saw just two minutes of action and missed both of his field-goal attempts. Uhl didn't even play in the second half.

In the Hawkeyes' first exhibition, Uhl played just eight minutes but scored four points. He wasn't the first post player off the bench in either game.

'I don't think he has fully comprehended how hard we need him to play, but he's figuring it out gradually,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'And he's been terrific since that game. We've seen it in spurts. He'll bust it pretty good, and you know, if you play him, he's pretty solid. He's not a big mistake guy. He'll rebound, post defend. What I'm trying to get him to do is more.”

Uhl, who hails from Frankfurt, Germany, played in 33 games last year and played 10.4 minutes a game. He averaged 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds and hit five 3-pointers.

This year, McCaffery wanted Uhl to play more center and he bulked up 20 pounds. It's undetermined if his weight has contributed to his on-court woes.

'I don't think so. But maybe,” McCaffery said. 'It's going to be harder to run consistently when you're heavier, but he's a guy who has speed. He can move his feet. He can run. He does tire a little easier than he used to. But what I need him to do is bust it hard when he is out there. Whenever you're out there, I need everything you've got.”

WAGNER INJURY

Iowa freshman forward Ahmad Wagner suffered a shoulder injury recently and was seen wearing a brace. McCaffery is unsure about Wagner's status for games this weekend against Gardner-Webb and Coppin State or if it will sideline him for a while.

'I hope not. He doesn't think so,” McCaffery said. 'The doctors don't think so, but it could. He's been hurting a couple days, and I think he's going to try to play today so we'll see how that goes and play the weekend. If it goes away, it goes away. Hopefully it will.”

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